Howard Duane Allman, Co-Founder of The Allman Brothers Band
Did you know:
- Born November 20, 1946 in Nashville, TN
- Early names for the band included The Escorts, The 31st of February, Hour Glass, Almanac, and The Allman Joys
- In 1969, he and Gregg cofounded The Allman Brothers Band
- Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band was #2 on ROLLING STONES The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time
- Duane and Gregg Allman’s father was an Army sergeant. He was murdered in 1949 by a hitchhiker he picked up. At the time, Duane was 3 and Gregg was 2
- Duane and Gregg are left-handed, but learned to play guitar right-handed.
- Duane Allman was a session player before joining the Allman Brothers Band. He camped out in his car at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama until he got a shot. His first session there was on Wilson Pickett’s version of “Hey Jude.” He was also part of Eric Clapton’s band, Derek and the Dominos, playing guitar on “Layla.”
- As a slide for his guitar, Duane used an old-fashioned glass bottle from a cold medication called Coricidin. He liked the “glass sound ” as opposed to “brass” slides, plus, the Coricidin bottle fit him perfectly. He kept it locked away in a briefcase while on the road, so as not to risk having it lost or broken in the course of handling all the larger equipment. Finding one that fit the finger, and also just happened to be the right length wasn’t all that easy.
- Duane Allman and Berry Oakley died as a result of motorcycle accidents three blocks away from each other, Duane on October 29, 1971, Barry on November 11, 1972. Oakley did not die there. He got up, went home and hung out with his friends. Three hours later he died from a brain hemorrhage. Both were 24. They are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, Georgia, where the band would often jam.
- Duane Allman named his daughter Galadrielle, after a character in J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord Of The Rings
- Duane’s Daughter wrote a book: Please Be with Me: A Song for My Father, Duane Allman. although he was killed in a motorcycle accident at the age of twenty-four while his daughter was two years old, she continued to read articles, listen to all of his music and ask questions from friends and family to learn more about his life and legacy.Sources:
Rolling Stone Web Archive
http://www.songfacts.com/
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